


The Raggedy Man

by silverfoxflower



Series: Tales of the Wolf [1]
Category: Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms, Original Work
Genre: Beggars, Dark, F/M, Fairy Tales, M/M, Other, Shapeshifting, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 13:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverfoxflower/pseuds/silverfoxflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was once a village plagued by wolves. Ruled by the great half-man, half-beast who called himself the Wolf King, the pack stalked the dark woods each night, howling loudly and savagely. Sheep and cattle were snatched, naught left but a bloody smear in the grass. Children were shuttered indoors for fear that they would be taken, too. Brave villagemen and adventurers who ventured into the woods were never seen again. Many times, the village had pleaded to their king for help, but was ignored.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Raggedy Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [corbae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/corbae/gifts).



> I had a lot of fun writing this fairy tale for my Yuletide, but was so worried that my recipient wouldn't like it that I wrote two more. Hopefully at least one meets your fancy corbae!

There was once a village plagued by wolves. Ruled by the great half-man, half-beast who called himself the Wolf King, the pack stalked the dark woods each night, howling loudly and savagely. Sheep and cattle were snatched, naught left but a bloody smear in the grass. Children were shuttered indoors for fear that they would be taken, too. Brave villagemen and adventurers who ventured into the woods were never seen again. Many times, the village had pleaded to their king for help, but was ignored. 

In order to keep the wolves from feasting upon the villagers, a payment in gold was left at the forest edge each winter. Still, every night as the sun slipped over the horizon, the people of the village would fearfully board up their windows and doors, awaiting a long night of sleepless terror. 

The only man foolhardy enough to sleep out-of-doors was a strange beggar who dressed all in rags. The children tormented him, the villagers distained him, and none knew from whence he came or when (for none really cared). They called him the "Raggedy Man". 

Now, it so happened that the mayor of the village had a daughter who was a famed beauty across the land. The minstrels compared her hair was to spun flaxen, her eyes to the clear summer sky, and she was as sweet as she was beautiful. The mayor, hopeful that a wealthy noble would wish for her hand, spread news of his daughter's virtue to anyone who would listen. 

Eventually, this found its way into the ear of the Wolf King. Intrigued, he sent a message:

"Give me your daughter's hand in marriage, or the wolves will ravage the town,” along with two bloody rabbits as a courting present. When this was received, the Town Council quivered with fear and mayor and his daughter wept.

Suddenly, the candles of the council room flickered. A breath of cold filled the air, as if the North Wind itself had blown through the room. The Raggedy Man appeared suddenly in the middle of the room. "Fear not," he said, "For I have a way to save this town from the wolves." 

"You!" The mayor roared, incredulously. "What impudence! I should have you dragged to the street and beaten! Guards!” 

"Nay," the Raggedy Man said, as guards reached for him. He changed into the shape of a sparrow and hopped away from their grasp. Then he changed shape into a snake, and a blooming rosebush, and then the maiden. 

The room was silent. 

"Allow me to take your daughter's place as the Wolf King's bride," the Raggedy Man said, in his false skin. It seemed as if the maiden was standing at the head of the room, clothed in rags, instead of trembling at her father's side. "I will slay the Wolf King and rid this village of his influence, but in return,” the corner of his lip raised in a smirk, “You will give me that which is the most precious to you."

Surely, the Raggedy Man wanted the mayor’s daughter. The maiden could not hide her shudder of disgust as she cowered behind her father. To the mayor, giving her to the Wolf King seemed as bad an option as giving her to the beggar, but having no better option, the mayor agreed. 

Following the Raggedy Man's instructions, the mayor procured for him a bridal gown, a thick veil, and a small knife, which the Raggedy Man secreted away. Two men accompanied him as far as the edge of the forest, hefting a heavy keg between them and backing away slowly as they saw the approaching wolf delegation. 

The Wolf King marched tall at the head, with the pack of dark, bloodthirsty wolves at his feet. He stood on his hind feet like a man, his body thickly muscled and covered with a thick pelt of black fur. He had the head and pelt of a wolf, with two rows of sharp, white teeth gleaming in the night. 

"Hello husband," the Raggedy Man said nervously, gesturing to the keg, "These spirits are my wedding tithe." 

The Wolf King lowered his great, shaggy head, huffing on the Raggedy Man and making him grimace in fear. With a violent motion, the Wolf King tore the veil from the Raggedy Man’s head, revealing his false face. 

For a moment, all in the forest held their collective breath, but the Wolf King seemed satisfied. Giving a loud grunt and a shake of his mane, he turned and began leading the pack into the forest. 

The Wolf King's layer lay at the tangled heart of the woods, a ruin of a castle covered in ivy. Bits of mortar had crumbled away between the roots of the vine, making the wind whistle as it blew through the cracks in the wall. The entrance gaped, dank and savage, like the maw of a dragon. 

"Mother!" the Wolf King callled.

The Raggedy Man struggled to hide his surprise when, instead of a wolf, out tottered out an old woman. Her hair was silvered with age, and her eyes were shrewd. They narrowed as she gazed at the Raggedy Man in his false skin. 

The Wolf King, suspecting nothing of the tension between his new bride and his mother, howled loudly for a wedding feast. 

The castle’s inside smelled of blood and wet fur, the tapestries and carpets all a-shredded under sharp wolf nails. The only light came from hanging candles, which cast large, flickering shadows on the stone walls. The wolves swarmed into the dining hall, snapping and fighting playfully with each other. Three worked to roll the wine keg into the room, caring little of how they dented the doorframe or cracked the corner of a table in their passing.

“Though this may seem a sad spectacle,” the Wolf King said to his bride, “It is your responsibility, wife, to give this a woman’s touch.”

Under the sharp eye of his mother-in-law, the Raggedy Man replied, as demurely as possible, “Yes, my love.” 

The Wolf King pulled out a chair for his bride, and seated himself beside her at the head of the table. The wooden surface was rent deep with scars, and stained an ominous color of red. The Raggedy Man found out why when the dinner bell sounded and a nanny goat he recognized from the village was dragged into the room. Its terrified eyes rolled in its skull as the wolves crushed its throat and threw its body upon the table. Its limbs were still twitching as they cut into it with their teeth and claws, slicing up the largest, tenderest cuts for their King and his bride. 

The Raggedy Man, accustomed to eating rotting fruit and stale bread, did not hesitate to feast as the wolves did, grabbing the raw meat with both hands and taking large, bloody bites. 

The Wolf King’s mother, deeply suspicious of her daughter-in-law, decided to put her to a test. Thus, she pushed own her plate off of the table, her food falling to the floor. 

“Daughter,” the Wolf King’s mother said, “I have dropped my plate on the ground.”

“Ah, mother,” the Raggedy Man said, unconcerned. “You’ll best to pick it up before the ants find it.” And he returned to his meal. 

“Aha see!” the crone cried, “What well-bourne maiden would allow her mother-in-law to consume such dirty food? Son, she is not what she seems.” 

“What say you, bride?” the Wolf King asked suspiciously. 

“Nay, nay,” the Raggedy Man said quickly, “In my village, we often flavor our food with dirt.” And so he threw some dust on his own food and forced it down, making as if it was a great treat. 

“Ah.” The Wolf King said, and was appeased. 

But the Wolf King’s mother was not satisfied, and so devised a second test for her daughter-in-law. 

Before the third course, she commanded, “Pour the wine for us, daughter.”

The Raggedy Man stood, and made to serve the wine, but he made the mistake of filling his goblet first. 

“Aha see!” the crone cried, “What well-bourne maiden would serve herself ahead of her husband? Son, she is not what she seems.” 

The wolves murmured dangerously. “What say you, bride?” the Wolf King asked suspiciously. 

“Nay, nay,” the Raggedy Man said quickly, “I was but tasting the wine to test it for poison.” And with that he drank deeply from his goblet. 

“Ah.” The Wolf King said, and was appeased. 

But his mother was not satisfied and devised a third test for her daughter-in-law. When the meal had finished, she turned to the Raggedy Man and said, “The wolves will begin their evening entertainment of a bear fight. Would you let me take up upstairs to wait on my son?”

“Nay, mother,” the Raggedy Man said, for he had a vicious taste, and was excited at the prospect of seeing death. “I do think I will stay.”

"Aha, see!" the crone cried, “What well-borne maiden would so relish a bear-baiting? Son, she is not what she seems.”

“What say you, bride?” the Wolf King asked suspiciously. 

“Nay, nay,” the Raggedy Man said quickly, “I have no love for bloodsport, I merely wish to stay at my new husband’s side.” He curled up against the Wolf King’s pelt, which was dank with sweat and old blood, and batted his eyes prettily. 

“Ah,” the Wolf King said, and was appeased. 

The tables were shoved to the edges of the room, freeing a wide space for the sport. In chains, the bear was dragged into the room. It was a de-toothed and crippled thing, yet still vicious as it fought for its life against two young wolves. The Raggedy Man nearly betrayed himself at times, so thrilled was he with the violence, but the Wolf King did not notice, as he cheered viciously himself for the death of the bear. 

It was a close-fought match, and once the bear’s great paw crushed the skull of a wolf, slamming its lifeless body into the wall. But finally, the great, lumbering beast fell from his many wounds, and the rest of the pack fell upon his throat, and the great hall was made quite bloody. 

As the bear lay freshly killed, the wolves all howled in shared bloodlust. The Wolf King, slavering with violent hunger, grabbed his new bride bounded to their bedchamber in three great leaps. The Raggedy Man knew that he was no match for the Wolf King when he was so powerful and heady with lust, and so made no protest as his false body was ravished, crying and going on as a virgin might. 

When the Wolf King had slaked his need, he turned to his bride and said. “Now, wife, you may roam anywhere in the castle, but see that you stay away from the cellar. ‘Tis where my guarded treasure lies, and should I smell your scent upon it, not even you will be spared from my wrath.” And with that he fell into a deep sleep.

The Raggedy Man waited for the rest of the castle to follow suit. Once, the bedchamber door opened a crack, and it was the Wolf's mother who peeked in. The Raggedy Man feigned sleep, and allowed the snores of her son to placate the Wolf's mother so she crept away again. 

When he was sure the castle was in silence, the Raggedy Man drew a hidden knife and plunged it into the Wolf King's heart as the great beast lay slumbering. The Wolf King gave barely a spasm, his eyes fluttering open to focus on his bride’s true shape before he passed. The Raggedy Man freed his knife and carved out one of the Wolf King's fangs. The rest he rent savagely with his little knife, throwing handfuls of bloody fur and skin and bone around the room until it seemed as if a great beast had torn the Wolf King from snout to knee. 

In the morning, the Wolf's mother found her son's bloody body in the bedchamber. Her screams woke the wolf pack and they rushed to find their King so savagely pulled apart. 

"It was the human girl!" The Raggedy Man, disguised as one of the wolves, screamed. "If one so frail as she could slay our leader, what of the rest of them?" So great were the wolves' panic that they scattered from the castle in all directions. 

The villagers watched this happen in shock, and were surprised even further when the Raggedy Man emerged from the woods.

None dared cross him as he marched to the mayor’s home, bloody and limping, his body covered with the tatters of his wedding gown. 

When the mayor opened the door, the Raggedy Man said, "I have upheld my side of the bargain," and showed him the Wolf's fang. "And now I wish for your something most precious.” 

But with the wolves so dispatched, the mayor had no more intent to give his daughter to the beggar. While the Raggedy Man had been gone, the Prince of the land had asked for the mayor’s daughter’s hand in marriage and the mayor had arranged that happily. And so the mayor called the strong men of the village and they forced the Raggedy Man out of the town, beating at him and laughing until he stumbled away bloody. They ignored when he vowed his revenge on the people of the village, for they thought him quite harmless without his magic tricks. 

And so the Raggedy Man vanished, and the people of the village gave no more thought to it as they pressed into preparing their town for the wedding of the Prince. The only one who remembered the Raggedy Man with any sort of sadness was the maiden, who thought it quite a shame and pitied the poor beggar. 

Now, it so happened that a few days before her wedding, the maiden was fetching water when her pot slipped from her grasp and began floating down the river. “Oh no,” she said and chased after it, but every time she neared, the current would sweep it away again and so without noticing, the maiden wandered far from the village and into the woods. 

Finally, the maiden’s pot was trapped between the roots of a tree which grew near the river. However, the tree was upon the other bank and the river was far too deep for the maiden to wade. Despairing, the maiden sat down to weep until she spied a frog swimming by. 

“Oh frog, oh dear frog, please save my pot!” she cried, and the frog, heeding her words swam to the river and retrieved it for her. He brought it to the edge of the water, where the maiden thanked him profusely. When she touched the pot, however, she was shrunk into a very little thing and quickly the frog stuffed her into the pot and clapped on the lid. 

Changing himself from the frog back to a human, the Raggedy Man carried the pot under one arm and walked into the woods. And thus he completed his revenge against the mayor. 

Next, he changed shape into the form of the deceased Wolf King, and gave such a great howl that all the trees in the woods shook from it. The wolf pack, which had been scattered to all ends of the earth, heard this ghastly sound and they rushed back to the village. 

“You thought me dead, but it was all a plot,” the Raggedy Man said, in his guise as the Wolf King. “Tomorrow, we must take my revenge and strike upon the village.” 

The other wolves were all so relieved that their leader still lived that they believed him without further questions, but the Wolf’s mother was not so convinced. 

“It is a dark spirit that possesses my son,” the wise woman thought, “’Tis the same that slew him.”

That night, the wolves all rejoiced, slaughtering whole herds of sheep and cooking them over great fires. They sparred each other and worked themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of the bloodshed which would happen the next dawn, their howls so loud that it chilled the blood of all who heard them. 

The villagers, confused and fearful, banged on their mayor’s door. 

The mayor reassured them. “Tonight the Prince will come to wed my daughter and he will slay the Wolf King, as he is a great champion.” He did not yet know that his daughter was gone, likely never to return. 

After the beasts had fallen asleep in the wolves’ camp, their bellies full of meat and dreaming of the slaughter that would come in the morning, the Wolf King’s mother crept into the room where her false son slept. 

There, she cut off the great wolf’s head. 

“Finally, my son is avenged,” said she, and putting the great head inside her bag, she went to throw it in the river. 

It so happened that the Prince, who was riding into town for his wedding, paused as he saw the queer sight of an old woman tottering into the woods alone, a great bag under her arm which dripped with blood. 

“Halt!” he commanded her, “What have you in that bag?”

“’Tis naught but a hare I slew for my supper,” the old woman said. 

“’Tis too large by half for a hare,” the Prince said, and so demanded that the old woman open her bag. 

When she did, it was the bloody head of the maiden which rolled out. 

“Foul witch!” the Prince cried, and cut the Wolf King’s mother down where she stood. Then he put the head of his betrothed in his own satchel and rode hard into the village. 

“This!” he lifted the head before the villagers, who had stumbled out of their houses in sleepy confusion. “Tell me why this happened!” 

“It was the wolves!” one gasped, and the others joined in frantic horror. 

“Then they must be slain, and the maid avenged.” The prince said grimly, drawing his weapon. 

And thus, the Prince called the villagers to arms behind him and sought to meet the wolves in battle. They fought for three days and three nights, and the screams of their dying shuddered through what was once a peaceful glen. 

On the morning of the fourth day, the Raggedy Man unfolded himself from his hiding place. What was once a small, prosperous village was now a field of carnage. The houses were blackened husks, the grass was stained with blood, and as the crows sat down to their breakfast, it was not possible to tell which body was once man, and which was once beast. And thus, the Raggedy Man completed his revenge against the village.

The Raggedy Man searched until he found the Prince's satchel, which had rolled off to the edge of the woods. Inside was the head of the maiden, face fair and sweet in slumber, innocent of all that had passed. With a bit of magic, the Raggedy Man bade her wake. 

The maiden opened her eyes. "What has befallen me?" she exclaimed. 

"Your family, your betrothed and your village have been slain by wolves. And you have been killed by the Wolf King's mother." the Raggedy Man answered, "But I shall return your body for the answer to these three questions."

The maiden wept, but she had no choice, so she submitted to the Raggedy Man's game. 

"If at a dinner, your mother-in-law were to drop her food on the ground, what would you do?"

"I would offer her my own plate and eat what has dropped on the dirt," the maid answered immediately. 

"Ah," the Raggedy Man said, and he gave her back her arms. "When you would serve the wine at your wedding dinner, whose cup would you fill first?" 

"My husband's." the maiden said, "For he is my life and my lord."

"Ah," the Raggedy Man said, and he gave her back her torso. "Are you fond of bear-baiting?" 

"Nay," the maid said with horror, "'Tis a foul and bloody sport."

"Ah," the Raggedy Man said, "You are soft of heart and weak of stomach." And seeing the maiden would never seek vengeance upon him, the Raggedy Man gave her back her legs and told her, "When the sun sets, walk in the direction of the trees' shadow until you find a castle in the woods. In the cellar you will find the treasure of the Wolf King."

Afraid, the maiden agreed readily, and watched the Raggedy Man disappear before her eyes. When the sun fell, she did as he bade her and found a king's ransom in gold and jewels. With this treasure, the maiden was free to choose her own husband, and she gave her heart to the second son of the King. 

And so the maiden led a good and happy life. When she became Queen, she let it pass that no beggar or vagrant would suffer misinjury in her kingdom, and even gave them food and alms from the king's own larders. It was a curiosity, though, that the soft-hearted Queen would never deign to be in a beggar's presence, and, indeed, even the sight of a raggedy coat was enough to send her into fits ...


End file.
